One of Belize’s candy, the “Wangla” candy is a delicious treat
readily available from street vendors.

This week we feature one of the best
food stalls/stand in San Pedro located
and popularly known in front of The
Palace Casino on Pescador Drive. A
family business, Elvira Peralta
Monteros and daughters are ready and
waiting with open arms to serve you.

Of the many candies they offer, one of
the most popular in demand is the
“sesame seed candy,” or better known
in Creole and Spanish as “wangla
seed” and “jojoli”. But how is it made
and what makes it so popular? According
to Elvira Peralta, owner, the candy
is very easy to make, “it is for people
who have a sweet tooth or want to try
something different.” The process of
making the candies is simple; “first,
get yourself some sesame seeds from
your local stores, add sugar in a bowl
with a little oil and water. Keep stirring
the syrupy contents until thick in
texture. Then, take it out using a
wooden spoon and pour on top of wrapping
paper and let it cool,” added
Monteros.

The taste is exquisite and it
is sure to leave you coming back on a
regular basis. If you get lucky, you will
run into someone selling “wangla,” and
if you still do not know what it is, think
of a thin peanut brittle made with thousands
of sesame seeds. Truly a sweet
tooth craver, try it today!

The following is a story of the OLE HEG, (Old Hag) who is associated closely
with Sesame/Wangla Seeds. Belizean folklores are heavy with hidden meaning,
and this one is no exception.

The Ole Heg would prepare for her entry, but upon seeing the Wangla seeds,
would compulsively start picking them up one by one.

OLE HEG

“Skinny, skinny, yu no know me?”
This is a tortured cry of the vampirelike
OLE HEG*, popularly depicted as
an old woman in stories told throughout
rural Belize. Loggers at our old mahogany
camps told about her and she is believed
to have African roots but also resembles
the witches or brujas of Maya lore.

Belizean poet James Sullivan Martinez,
who spent much of his youthful years with
his father at logging camps, was inspired
to write about her in a local newspaper.

OLE HEG is said to frequent communities
with dilapidated buildings, emerging
late at night, in search of victims from
whom she can suck blood. She prepares
for her attack by uttering an oracion or
prayer that will allow her to remove her
skin, which she hangs on a ceiba tree or
places in a mortar (these were kept in
the outdoor cooking area in the earlier
days). It is said that she will then transform
herself into a flying ball of fire and
dwindle to a minute ray of light that can
enter a home through the keyhole. Some
say that she straps two straw mats to her
arms in order to fly on to the thatched
roof of a house and sits there, peeking in
until the moment for her entrance is right.

Once inside, she chooses any sleeping
person, although children are her favorite
victims. She visits on several successive
nights, sucking blood from the same
person. Her victims become paler and
thinner each day and often die as a result.

OLE HEGS are numerous and perhaps
the only folklore characters who
train others to adopt their behavior. In
the training, the experienced OLE HEG
hoists the novice into the air and recites
incantations that cause them both to rise
higher and higher in the skies. The novice
receives one specific instruction – not
to say “Oh Lord” at any time while in
the air. These words are believed to
counter the effect of the evil forces at
work among OLE HEGS.

Although Ole Heg is usually portrayed
as an old woman, belief in the “training”
process may be what has prompted stories
which describe her as a teenage girl
or a middle-aged woman.

As powerful as she is, Ole Heg is unlikely
to venture out during the day. Children
who are not aware of this will still
tease old women and mark bridges,
doors, and windows with chalk in an attempt
to keep Ole Heg away.

Ole Heg can be kept at bay in several
ways, one of the easiest being to dress in blue, a color she avoids. At night parents
often put their children to sleep in a blue garment, as protection from her. Another
of Ole Heg’s enemies is asafoetida, a foul-smelling gum resin that will keep her far
away. An up-side down broom will also prevent her from coming into the house.
It is common for people to scatter wangla (sesame) seeds on the floor in their
homes or on their doorsteps, because, on seeing the seeds, OLE HEG becomes
obsessed with picking them up (see illustration). She does this slowly, one by one,
and when her hand is full, she pours them on the ground and begins to collect them
again, over and over until morning comes. She cannot leave until night falls again,
and once OLE HEG has been trapped in this way, she can be beaten to death with a
broom. Perhaps because of her association with these seeds she is called Wangla
Lady.

The most popular method to defeat OLE HEG is to seek out her skin, which hangs
on the ceiba tree or lies in the mortar and sprinkle it with salt. When she later
returns and tries to re-enter her skin, it will sting her flesh and she will chant in
desperation “Skinny, skinny, yu no know me?”